Batwoman Takes Over Detective Comics

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Writer Greg Rucka discusses his work with J.H. Williams and the new direction for the classic Dark Knight series.

By Dan Phillips

It's been a long, long time coming (three years to be precise) but DC is finally delivering the Greg Rucka-penned Batwoman project that fans have been waiting for ever since the character's debut in Week 7 of 52. In just two weeks, the wait will be over, and fans will finally get their first look at the character in her own starring vehicle in Detective Comics #854, written by Rucka and gorgeously illustrated by JH Williams.

With anticipation at a boiling point, IGN Comics tracked down Rucka to discuss the long awaited project, get his take on the controversy surrounding the latest addition to the Bat Family, and find out what fans should expect from both her ongoing story and Detective's Question co-feature.

IGN Comics: It seems like fans have been hearing about a Batwoman series from you and JH Williams for a long, long time now. Can you describe the journey this project has gone through from conception to print?

Greg Rucka: Well they had planned to do a Batwoman book – or at least a mini – prior to 52. It was in development as early as that, which was how many years ago now? And then there was the much talked about New York Times piece, and then all of a sudden everyone in the world knew she was a lesbian! And she had red hair! And she wore lipstick, apparently!

As a result, we were told we needed to use her in 52, so when Grant, Geoff, Mark and I were working on 52, we sort of had to take hold of this character and try to figure out a way to use her in some way over the course of the year. We did the best we could, but we were set back on our heels because that had not been part of the initial plan. By the time 52 ended, DC had made it pretty clear that this character was going to be showing up in her own book at some point. I ended up being the guy catching that ball, and I'm actually still not sure to this day exactly how that happened. It was just sort of assumed that since I had written most of her stuff in 52 that I would carry it forward. So I did.

And then you had the One Year Later projects, which we started developing when Pete Tomasi was the group editor for the Bat books. It was Pete who first said that JH Williams and I would be great on the book. He talked to Jim, Jim and I started talking, and then Pete left editorial to continue his career as a writer. Michael Siglain ended up as the editor of the book. Mike ended up being the editor on the back half of 52 after Steve Wacker left, so he was an editor that I had an exceptionally good working relationship with. He and I sort of rolled up our sleeves and dove into it. I had been doing a whole lot of pre-work on it, writing up a concept bible and things like that. Jim sat down and looked at the designs that had already been done in her prior appearances, brought up some of his design and aesthetic concerns, and then went on to do redesigns. At which point I was writing scripts.

But really the thing wasn't announced until last February. When we talk about people know it was coming, yeah, it was like the worst kept secret in comics for about two years. But it wasn't' official until February. And I think that was really because Dan DiDio in particular was adamant about giving the book it's strongest chance. He has positively backed this thing from the start, and the number of hits he's taken on this, we've lost count. But when the Battle for the Cowl stuff came out, we figured this was the most logical place to do it. With Bruce gone, this was the time, and the suggestion was to put it in Detective. And there was precedent for it, so we figured that's great – we'll do that.

But yeah, it's been a long, strange journey. I think as soon as December of last year we still weren't sure where the book was going to be coming out. We were just moving forward writing and drawing this thing in hopes that one day we'd figure out where it would go.

IGN Comics: I've heard you state that, despite her appearances in books like 52, Crime Bible and Revelations, no one outside of you, JH Williams and Michael Siglain really knows much about the character. We know she's rich, Jewish, redheaded, lesbian, can kick ass, and once had a thing with Rene Montoya. What else can you say about the character?

Rucka: This is the thing – I'm not sure I want to say a whole lot else. If I were a fan – if I weren't in the sausage factory knowing how these things get made – I'd say, "big deal." I might be a little frustrated, because there's been a fair amount of hype, but even DC wasn't responsible for it. It was really the mass media doing that thing of, "Ohhh, look at those comic book fans. Aren't they funny and strange?" It was that general insulting view on our art form and our fan base.

But I will say she is not what people think. She is not Batman with a nice rack. She's not a Barbara Gordon clone. This isn't a case of 'what if Barbara hadn't been shot by Joker and eventually went from being Batgirl to Batwoman?' Kate Kane is her own person. She's got a distinct personal tragedy, as is requisite to wear the mantel of the bat. You have to go through some personal hell to decide that you want to put a bat on your chest and beat people up at night – that you're beating people up at night other than the reason that you get off on it. I've said this before, and you'll see it early on – for everybody else, when they put on a Bat costume, it's a costume. For Kate, it's a uniform. That influences everything she does, and it tells you volumes about her.

The story Jim and I are telling breaks up into arcs or acts. The first four issues are the first part of it, and it is very much about seeing her in action. Part of the purpose of that arc is to resolve and to bring into line with continuity a lot of the dangling threads that were left from 52 and in the interim. The next three issues are then the origin, which comes out very organically. Because of what happens in the first four issues, the telling of the origin becomes essential. And then the back end of the run becomes the resolution of the conflict she's facing throughout the story.

And I realize I haven't really answered your question, and that's kind of me trying to avoid it. [laughs] Let me put it this way: in Batman canon, people take up arms and join his fight because they see him as the direction. In many cases he's the recruiting cause. That's not the case for Kate.

IGN Comics: One of the most intriguing aspects of Batwoman's character is that she's the only character, outside of maybe Huntress back during No Man's Land, who had the audacity to take up the mantle of the Bat without the blessing of Batman. Is that an issue that will factor into this story?

Rucka: To a certain extent. Remembering that back in 52, she encountered Nightwing, who obviously would have reported back to Batman. Batman is cognizant of her and knows what she's up to. I guess you can look at it more like this – there's Batman and then there's a first generation set of heroes that he sort of mentors. You have Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and to a certain extent even Huntress. Huntress sort of bullied her way into the class, took a look around, and then decided she didn't really like it there. With Kate, she's the second generation, for lack of a better way to put it. With Kate, it's a difference of following the man and following the ideal. For her, the Bat doesn't mean Batman. For her, the Bat is like the flag. It's an emblem – like following the Stars and Stripes into battle.